• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

LeBron, Kobe go head to head in marquee battle

Feb 8, 2009 - 8:21 AM LA Lakers (40-9) at Cleveland (39-9) 3:30 p.m. EST

CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- In what well may be a glimpse at the eventual last men standing this NBA season, the Los Angeles Lakers and Cleveland Cavaliers will put to the test the old unstoppable-force-vs.-immovable-object scenario on Sunday.

The unstoppable force is the Los Angeles Lakers and, in particular, their superstar guard Kobe Bryant, who is hitting his vintage form just in time for the stretch run. The immovable object is ... well, the actual object in which the game will be played - Quicken Loans Arena. Thanks in part to a dominant defense that yields a league-low 90.7 points per contest, the Cavs remain unbeaten on their home floor in 23 games this season.

The Lakers have a shot to close out their six-game road trip with an unblemished mark as they take on the high-powered Cavaliers in a possible Finals preview.

Much has been made of the virtual head-to-head battle between Kobe Bryant and LeBron James this week, as the each scorched the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Bryant raised the ante on Monday, as he dropped a Garden-record 61 points in a nine-point Lakers win - days after center Andrew Bynum was lost for at least the next two months with a knee injury.

Two nights later, however, James matched Bryant's heroics. Though he fell short of the scoring mark, finishing with a mere 52 points, LeBron added 11 assists and nine boards as Cleveland won a hard-fought battle with the feisty Knicks, nearly becoming the first player since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to register 50 points and a triple-double in the same game.

After all those highlight reels and Kobe-vs.LeBron analyses, the two actually get to square off in person. The Lakers took the first battle on January 19 at the Staples Center, as Kobe added 12 assists to his modest 20-point output in a 105-88 victory.